Curran's Patriots-Panthers Preview-Review

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Curran's Pats-Panthers preseason game preview

PREVIEW

On Monday, Bill Belichick pooh-poohed the notion of game-planning in earnest for the Panthers. But as the week wore on, it was clear that – while New England may not have been going over every nuance – they were in opponent-specific preparation. That’s a common practice for the third preseason game so that everybody gets in the swing of running scout team and getting into team-specific packages as they will when the real stuff starts. So the Patriots will be trying to win Friday night against Carolina, not just running stuff they need to see.

REVIEW

Bill Belichick asserted again after the game that they weren’t out there to try and X and O the Panthers into oblivion. Still, they seemed to do a little more than just line up and run straight ahead. And it was good in a 30-7 win.

WHEN THE PATRIOTS HAVE THE BALL

PREVIEW

The Panthers have a very good defensive group. Last week, New England got a ton of snaps early against the Eagles and moved the ball with relative ease. But there were some key third-down conversions in there that extended drives. The Panthers pass rush with ends Charles Johnson and Greg Hardy is top tier. Nate Solder will get a challenge at one tackle spot. With Sebastian Vollmer missing time this week, it could be Marcus Cannon toiling at right tackle. He’ll need to answer the bell. The Panthers linebacker level has the well-regarded Luke Kuechly and the underrated Thomas Davis, a player Tom Brady thinks was one of the best the Patriots played against in 2013. That will be a good challenge for the running game which got great execution early from Stevan Ridley last week and from Jonas Gray and Brandon Bolden later. Rookie James White has so far seemed to go down very often on first contact. It would be good to see a little more finish from him. We’ll also watch to see if Ridley’s snaps or role is altered this week after a ball squirted out at the end of a carry against the Eagles. The offensive line was a revolving door against the Eagles as the Patriots played people all over the place and at tight end because of the shortage there. Expect a more consistent rotation this week. Justin Jones was re-signed to take off some of the heat on Steve Maneri who was the only tight end on the roster last week. I might be the only one who feels this way, but the Patriots wideout deployment with Kenbrell Thompkins and Julian Edelman as the top two and Brandon LaFell and Danny Amendola coming on for the four-wide sets looks like a tough cover. They have such complementary abilities and the quickness of Edelman, Thompkins and Amendola in particular are going to make them tough covers if DBs can’t lay hands on them. Lastly, it will be interesting to see who comes in for relief of Brady. Last week it was Jimmy Garoppolo after two Brady series. Ryan Mallett got the second half.

REVIEW

The Patriots started sluggishly in their first two possessions before getting a Mallett-led field goal drive that was aided by a DPI on a fourth-and-3 incompletion. It was Mallett’s only work and hints at his perhaps becoming an expendable player. Brady came back on after that and went surgical. He went 17-for-21 for 204 yards and had two scores. One of his drives (starting the third quarter) was penalty-aided as well with a DPI on a third-and-15. Overall, though, the wideouts are settling into established roles. Edelman’s the prime guy, Amendola’s the one to hit when the defense falls asleep and Thompkins is the downfield 15-to-25-yard target. Brandon LaFell could have had a better night. Nice job by a shuffling offensive line with Marcus Cannon at right tackle for Sebastian Vollmer, Ryan Wendell and Dan Connolly shuffling in-and-out at center and Jordan Devey (who is not an inspiring player at this point) at right guard. The New England running game was effective, not spectacular. Josh Boyce came in late and wasn’t targeted.

WHEN THE PANTHERS HAVE THE BALL

PREVIEW

Cam Newton saw his first action of the preseason last week and scuffled a little at the start as he comes back from his ankle injury. The Panthers will be playing without the starters on the right side of the offensive line as Trai Turner and Nate Chandler are both out tonight. The Panthers always have a pretty good running game with DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart. Their passing game is a work in progress with rookie Kelvin Benjamin and Jerricho Cotchery at the top of the depth chart. Tight end Greg Olsen can be a tough cover. Also, Newton is a problem when he decides to run. He’ll probably use some discretion in doing that in preseason but it’s still important the Patriots keep their contain lanes. For the Patriots, they are still dealing with depth injuries at defensive tackle so Tommy Kelly, Vince Wilfork and Will Smith may be asked to toil longer. Jerod Mayo isn’t in bad disrepair but the linebacker was limited at practice early in the week so we’ll see how much he plays if at all. I’ve liked what I’ve seen from both Darius Fleming and James Anderson at linebacker. Both have run-stopping and coverage ability and are making a case to stick and contribute. In the secondary, longer reps for Darrelle Revis and Devin McCourty. We’ll see if Malcolm Butler can put in another solid showing. At the safety next to McCourty, it’s been a shuffle. Who is out there first may be an indicator of the positional leader.

REVIEW

Just a terrific defensive performance triggered by complementary play between the pass rush and the coverage. And that was triggered by a very good performance by the front-seven against the running game. Carolina had 11 carries for 29 yards in the first half and were bottled up by the Patriots front. Nice night for Jamie Collins and Chandler Jones. Also liked the work -- again -- of Malcolm Butler and Darrelle Revis at corner. Seemed clear that the officials’ prediction that teams would learn to play less handsy was starting to come to fruition. Patrick Chung looks like he’s got the inside track for the safety spot next to Devin McCourty. Brandon Browner didn’t get it until very late in the game, likely because of his looming suspension. When he’s been in there, he’s not breathtaking. Darius Fleming and James Anderson both showed up as did Steve Beauharnais. Defensive tackle Jerel Worthy also showed some very good power in his second-half action. The only downside was some second-half coverage issues to underneath crossers.

THE KICKING GAME

PREVIEW

Bad week for the Patriots punt team against the Eagles. Likely an aberration and they’ll need to tidy that up. Josh Boyce, who seems to be a second-tier wideout at this point, will probably be part of the return game and needs to accentuate his value at this point. The PATs will be returned to their normal length this week.

REVIEW

Much better than a week ago. No punting gaffes. A 60-yard field goal to close the first half. Two long punt returns by Julian Edelman. No kickoff returns. Well done.

GAME WITHIN THE GAME

PREVIEW

The third preseason game isn’t just about reps it’s about quality reps and performances. The sooner things look the way they should and results appear in line with expectations, the sooner the starters can be packed away in anticipation of the season opener. We’ve seen some shaky third game performances from the Patriots in recent years – for whatever reason – so the “just a half” workload for the starters is not a guarantee.

REVIEW

The starters on both sides got very high quality work and saw a ton of situations except red zone. For the first time in a while, a third preseason game went the way the Patriots would have drawn it up.

DON’T BE SURPRISED IF

PREVIEW

The Patriots defense puts a very, very impressive performance on. Two starters missing on the offensive line for the Panthers? A running quarterback who won’t want to run too much and a receiving corps that really doesn’t scare anyone? The Patriots starters have it lined up for a nice outing.

REVIEW

Nailed it.

THAT SUMS IT UP PATRIOTS STYLE

PREVIEW

"Coach already told us we’re going to get a lot of work. What that means, I don’t know. I don’t think anyone ever knows with him, but we’ll be prepared, ready to go for 60 minutes and hopefully it’s a good 60 this week. We’ve had a couple of ‘doozies’ in the third preseason game lately and it would be nice to have a good one." – Tom Brady

REVIEW

The Patriots talked after the game about being inspired to play well after last season’s regular-season loss at Carolina. Get your motivation wherever you can, I guess.

THAT SUMS IT UP PANTHERS STYLE

PREVIEW

"They're a team you use as a measuring stick. It is a very good offense, very good defense and very good special teams. They're a well-coached football team with really good football players. This will be a good test.” – Ron Rivera, Carolina head coach

REVIEW

Rivera opened his postgame press conference with this word: "Disappointment."